ISRAEL RESTRICTING VISAS TO ACADEMICS AT PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITIES

Israel is preventing international academics from working at Palestinian universities in the West Bank and Gaza, two NGOs said on Thursday as they embarked on a campaign to help the universities – particularly Birzeit, located in near Ramallah.

Adalah and the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq have turned to the media after writing letters to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the attorney-general, the military advocate-general and the Interior Ministry asking that this practice be halted.

The two NGOs did not have all of the data regarding the issue, but they pointed to a number of studies that had done partial investigations of the phenomenon.

“Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – like all other peoples around the world – are entitled to exercise their right to academic freedom as part of their right to self-determination. The Israeli military occupation cannot prevent Palestinians from exercising this right,” said attorney Sawsan Zaher, who is the deputy general director for Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.

The NGOs also gave examples from the experience of Birzeit, where they said that four full-time and three part-time international lecturers have been “compelled” to leave the country between 2017-2019, because their visas were not renewed. Two international faculty members were denied entry in 2019, the NGO said.

“Not a single international faculty member, with the exception of those directly employed by foreign government-sponsored programs, was issued a visa for the length of their 2018-2019 academic year contract,” the NGOs said.

Already in February 2018, a study done by the Palestinian Education Ministry found that half of the international lectures in Palestinian universities – 32 out of 64 – had been impacted by visa restrictions, the NGOs said. This included rejections and extensions of visa applications. Many of those targeted were Palestinians with foreign passports from countries such as the Netherlands, France, Germany, India, Jordan, the United States and European Union members states.

The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, an affiliate of Birzeit University, “reported a 200% increase in visa denials over the past two academic years,” the NGOs said.

COGAT said in response, that it had not received any query regarding the matter. It alluded to the possibility that that the NGOs had the wrong fax number and provided the correct one. When the NGO query letter is received, COGAT said, "we will be able to address the issue and deal with the request."

JP